27. Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Julien
J ulien pressed Lou Rossi’s name on his phone. He felt satisfied as Anthony squirmed on the floor and clutched his ribs.
Blood dripped from Rossi’s temple, and he didn’t dare to even speak, even when Julien showed him whom he was calling.
“Jules? What is it? I’m in the middle of Christmas Eve dinner right now,” Lou said when he, thankfully, picked up.
Julien could hear a giant crowd talking and laughing from the phone, and he had to wonder how much of Tony’s plans his Uncle Lou knew about.
“Sorry, I’ll make this quick,” Julien said. “Tony paid me a visit. I gave him your money. Then he showed up at my family Christmas Eve dinner with a gun demanding an extra fifteen Gs,” he said. “Did you know about this, Lou? ”
The way Tony lowered his head suggested that Lou didn’t know about this.
On the other end of the phone, Lou sighed, and the sounds of his party went quiet as a door slammed. “Are you fuckin’ kidding me right now? What the fuck is he thinking? He was supposed to get that payment and come back here. I thought he could leave you to a nice Christmas now that you don’t owe us,” Lou told him.
Julien didn’t think the man had tried to be that generous, so much as he wanted what he owed as soon as possible. But he was in no position to question what Lou said. He never had been and wouldn’t start now.
Tyler stared at him, his blue eyes wide and terrified. Julien wanted to reach out to reassure him, but he also knew that he had to get Tony out of the house without ending up in more trouble than he had started.
“Well, he changed the plan. He shot at me in front of my boyfriend’s niece and nephew,” Julien said, absolutely ratting the bastard out.
If he knew one thing about Lou, it was that he didn’t fuck around when it came to kids. He had eight of his own and probably a thousand grandkids. Hopefully, it would sway him to understand where Jules was coming from.
Lou swore. “Oh god damn, Jules. I had nothing to do with this. You know I run a legitimate business. Mostly. Put Tony on the phone. I need to talk to him.”
Julien reached over, and Tony flinched before he took the phone and pressed it against his ear.
Mrs. Ashford raised her eyebrows, and Julien gave her a slight nod. He doubted there would be any kindness from the woman ever again, but at least he hoped the family would be safe now.
“Yeah,” Tony said, his voice quiet. “I know. I know.” His tone turned a little whiny, but he quickly shut up.
The muffled sounds of Lou yelling weren’t clear enough for Julien to comprehend, but from the look on Tony’s face, it wasn’t going well for him.
The whole family stayed silent until Tony hung the phone up and tentatively handed it to Jules.
Brad smacked the bat against his palm. “I think you have somewhere to be, Pal,” he grinned again.
Tony quickly scrambled to his feet. “You guys are all insane.” His face contorted with pain as he hurried to the door.
Julien rushed to follow him to make sure he actually fucking left. Wally, Brad, and Mr. Ashford followed in kind.
“Merry Christmas, Tone,” Julien spat as Rossi struggled to open the door.
“You… you just have to pull it,” Wally said helpfully, though the gun was still pointed at Rossi. “No, you need to unlatch it first. The top one. It’s tricky.”
Julien sighed and went over to unlatch the door. Once it was open, Rossi burst out into the night.
“Alright, now do we follow this fucker?” Brad whooped as he rushed outside as well.
“I’ll get my keys,” Wally said.
“Umm, I have them,” Julien admitted, pulling the keys out of his pocket and handing them to Brad. He would have to explain that one later. “We shouldn’t start any more trouble, though. ”
“No, but we want to make sure that asshole isn’t lurking on the property,” Mr. Ashford said.
Julien agreed, and as he followed the other three men, Tyler grabbed him by the arm.
“Julien, wait, you’re bleeding.” He ran his hands all over Julien to try to find where he was shot.
The blood came from Julien’s shoulder, and Tyler reached up, hands shaking, to push the sleeve of his T-shirt up.
Julien blinked. He had registered he’d been shot and was bleeding. Now that adrenaline wore off, a dull ache began pulsing from his shoulder. “It’s just a scratch,” he said because he didn’t think it was that deep. It couldn’t be.
“Jules, you coming?” Brad asked from the driver’s seat. He still brandished the bat. Wally was in the passenger’s seat, waving the gun out the window. The pair of them looked like a couple of vigilantes out for blood.
“Go without him! He’s hurt!” Tyler called back.
By this time, Hailey and Cece had come back out and were looking around in shock.
“What the Hell are they doing?” Cece asked. Her face was stained with tears, and she clutched her mother for dear life.
“They want to make sure he’s gone,” Mrs. Ashford said. She had her hands on her hips and shook her head as if disappointed that dinner had gone awry.
“Drive safe!” Hailey yelled out to the guys.
Brad followed Rossi’s car, and the car peeled out of the snow-covered driveway with shocking ease.
“Mom.” Tyler tugged Julien back inside with him. “Mom, Julien was shot.”
Tyler’s mom sprang into action. “Julien, sit right here.” She gestured to a barstool attached to the island in the kitchen. “Hailey, get the first aid kit. Cece, are the kids alright?”
“It’s really not that bad.” Julien pushed at his sleeve.
The bullet must have just grazed him, leaving behind an unpleasant-looking scratch on his tattooed shoulder.
“Should we take him to the hospital?” Tyler asked, his voice shaking as he gripped Julien’s hand for moral support .
Julien couldn’t help himself; his entire mind seemed fuzzy now that the danger had ended. He pulled Tyler’s hand to his lips and kissed it. How Tyler’s warm fingers moved to caress his jaw almost made him weep. “I’m okay, Baby.”
Hailey returned with the first aid kit, and his mother washed the wound with peroxide. “I think it’s very shallow. I don’t even think it will need stitches. But it’s up to you, Julien. We can take you to the hospital or call an ambulance,” Mom told him.
Julien shook his head. “No. No, it’s fine. I’ve already caused enough trouble. It’s really nothing.” He couldn’t even imagine what he would say to the hospital.
The explanation alone was too much of a risk. Jules was sure the whole matter was sorted with Rossi now, but he couldn’t risk something else happening.
“They probably can’t do much anyway,” Hailey said. “Besides, charge him like a thousand dollars for an Aspirin.”
“Are you sure?” Tyler asked. “The bullet isn’t in him, is it?”
“Honey, the bullet barely even hit him,” Connie said confidently.
“No! It’s over there.” Hailey pointed out with a cry. She rushed over and picked it up, holding it like a trophy. “I can’t believe that just happened. Is everyone alright?”
“Yes, I think so,” Mom said. “Tyler?”
Tyler only gave a weak nod as his mother dressed Julien’s wound.
“I’m sorry,” Julien finally found his voice again. “I shouldn’t have come back here. I had no idea Rossi would follow me. I am so sorry.” His face twisted with grief.
Mrs. Ashford shook her head. “Look, I don’t know what you’re mixed up in, but it wasn’t your fault he came here.”
Tyler looked down. “I’m sorry, too. This was a stupid plan from the start.”
Julien winced. The pang in his chest hurt way worse than the sting of alcohol against his shoulder.
“What plan?” Hailey asked.
“Julien’s not my boyfriend. I paid him to pretend to be,” Tyler said. “I didn’t know then, but he needed the money to pay off the Rossi family for his mom’s medical bills. I just took advantage of the situation.”
Julien frowned. If anything, he was the one who took advantage. He took five thousand dollars from Tyler because it seemed like an easy job. If Jules had known how he would feel about Tyler, he never would have agreed to it.
“No, I should have been honest with you from the beginning,” he said to Tyler. “Look, I’ll get a bus back to Pittsburgh tomorrow. I’m sorry any of this happened.” He couldn’t sit there and take up more of this family’s time or disturb their peace any longer.
Tyler gave a soft huff. His shoulders sagged as he gripped Julien’s jaw possessively. “Don’t.”
“Nonsense. It’s Christmas, so you should stay and return with Tyler as planned. Who knows how the roads will be tomorrow? You’ll be at the bus station forever,” Connie said. “Besides, tonight aside, we’ve all enjoyed having you here.”
“Yeah,” Tyler said. “I don’t want you to leave anyway, Julien. Please.”
Julien swallowed, unable to believe they would have wanted him here at all, but he didn’t have it in him to argue about staying because, in the end, he didn’t want to go either.